The Senate committee heard from four Oregon parents and students who had been directly affected. Students reported being pulled by their belts or carried by their arms and legs into small cells inside a classroom that were locked from the outside to prevent the students from getting free.

The students and parents said the children were traumatized by being shut into the locked containers and also by seeing classmates subjected to the same treatment.

No data is available to show how rare or widespread the practice is. If the bill passes, schools still will be able to lock students by themselves in a classroom -- but not in a smaller, free-standing cell.

Just eight school districts answered her so far, including Parkrose, Hillsboro, Gresham-Barlow, Coos Bay and Centennial, she said. Together, those eight districts reported locking students into a seclusion room against their will 791 times, she said. Harrison said the records did not clearly distinguish between seclusion in small, free-standing cells, as would be banned under House Bill 2756, versus in larger classrooms that are part of the school structure.

No one testified against the bill during hearing by the House and Senate education committees, Gelser said.